JP2787321B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a printer for printing out output data from a plurality of host computers connected to a network capable of high-speed data transfer.

(Prior Art) Recently, from a supercomputer to a minicomputer, a personal computer, and the like, it has been connected to a network capable of high-speed data transfer.

When a printer is connected to a network and used, many computers share the printer.

As shown in FIG. 5, the printer 1 has a controller 2 for analyzing and processing data from a host (in this case, a computer via an external I / F) and a print for printing the result as a visible image. And an engine unit 3.

As shown in FIG. 6, the controller 2 has a basic configuration including a controller (CPU 20), a ROM 21, a RAM 22, and other devices 23 (external memory, non-volatile memory, etc.), and an external interface I / F 24. The information required for the print engine unit 3 to create the data received from the host via the print engine unit into a visible image is transmitted from the engine interface I / F 25 to the print engine unit.

When such a printer is connected to a network cable 4 capable of high-speed data transfer as shown in FIG.
A plurality of hosts (computers) 5A, 5B, 5C,..., 5N are connected on a single network cable for various purposes, and perform processing independently or while performing data communication with each other.

Since the individual hosts have little chance of performing printing for the entire processing, it is efficient in use that one host is assigned to several hosts as shown in FIG. That is, the printer is responsible for the printing operation of a plurality of hosts.

Further, when communicating using a network, a plurality of hosts share one network cable 4,
Data is sent in units of blocks, and information on the destination and source is included in this block.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, the conventional printer employs a one-to-one connection with the host, so it is only necessary to pay attention to the output data sent from the host. It was unnecessary.

When such a printer is connected to the network, the host changes the settings (command set, font, paper size, print direction, etc.) of the printer before the host sends data to the printer. In such a case, a print result as desired for the host may not be obtained. In order to prevent this, there is a problem that the printer must be set each time before printing.

In addition, the conventional operating system of the host computer has performed accounting relating to the printer (recording the number of prints and the like for an account “account” registered in the printer by default). With regard to, data may be sent from any host on the network, and multiple operating systems may be on the same network, making accurate accounting difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned various problems in the related art and to accurately perform accounting for a printer connected to a network.

(Structure and operation) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printer connected to a plurality of computers via a network, wherein the plurality of computers are controlled by a command from the computer or a setting from an operation panel provided on the printer. Accounts corresponding to individual computers in the computer can be registered, accounting is performed each time an image is formed based on data from the computer corresponding to the registered account, and the result of the accounting is stored in storage means as accounting information. It is characterized by having a control means for making it.

The present invention enables the printer to set what unit and what accounting is to be performed, and uses a non-volatile memory to store the accounting information so that the accounting can be performed accurately even after the power is turned off. Can be held.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The RAM 22 has the following functional blocks. 6 is a data processing module for performing actual data processing sent from each host 5A, 5B, 5C,... 5N via the external interface I / F 24, and 7 is for status setting information and data processing for each host. A host management module 8 for managing settings to be used indicates an area for storing the current status setting information of the printer shared by each host shown in FIG.
Data processing and management information is transmitted and received as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Prior to the data processing, the host management module 7 checks the source host from the data block (1) received from the data processing module 6 (2).

Source of previously received data block, eg host 5A
If the host is different from the host, for example, host 5B (N of 3
O), the current setting storage area 8 of the printer is saved (pushed back) to the storage area for storing the setting information of the previous host 5A (4).

As a result, the settings of the previous host 5A are maintained without being lost. Next, the current setting of the transmission source host 5B is called into the current setting storage area 8, and the printer is changed and set to the setting desired by the transmission source host 5B (5).

Thereafter, the data is analyzed by the data processing module 6 and converted into print information (6).

The setting information for each host may be a normal memory. However, if a non-volatile memory is used, the setting information is retained even when the power is turned off. Therefore, when the printer is turned on again, the setting needs to be performed again. There is convenience that disappears.

Next, accounting for printers connected to the network will be described. The accounting unit (A) may be, for example, (a ₁ ) a specific user or group of a specific host computer.

(A ₂ ) All users of a specific host computer.

(A ₃ ) Group on the network (net group).

The accounting target (B) may be, for example, (b ₁ ) the number of prints (the number of prints).

(B ₂ ) Number of jobs.

(B ₃ ) Number of times an error occurred.

The two items (A) and (B) of the above accounting are:
As an initial setting, using the operation panel (not shown) of the printer, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the hosts 5A, 5B, 5C,.
Register every N. However, it is possible to use commands from each host as much as possible, and if necessary, set a password.

That is, the printer stores and secures the network address (or host name) of the host computer, the user name (or user ID), the group name (or group ID), and the area of the accounting target in the non-volatile memory in the printer. .

Next, the operation in the printer will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, data (data for a printer to generate or control an image) is received from a host connected to a network according to a protocol (1).

Is the sender of this data registered on the printer,
Investigate whether or not (2). If data is sent from an unregistered host, as a process (3), whether to permit (YES in 3) or return an error state (NO in 3 ... 4)
Can be set. It is determined whether or not the printer is in a busy state (YES) in steps (2) and (3) (5).
If YES), a busy state is returned (6).

In this case, busy means that when the receiving buffer in the controller unit 2 is full, when an error such as a paper jam occurs in the printer, a job from a certain host (unit of work given to the printer by the host). When there is a request for a job from another host when it is starting, etc.

If the above busy determination is not busy (5 N
O) The image data generation and control processing is performed by the controller unit 2 (6), and then the unregistered host is determined (7). If the data is from a registered host (transmission source), an error occurs. The accounting of the number of occurrences (8), the number of jobs (9) at the beginning of a job, and the number of prints (10) when paper is output from the printer are performed (8A, 9A, 10).
A).

In the above description, accounting of an unregistered host may be collectively performed, and the printer is configured to be able to report accounting information in response to a request from the host. The accounting information is stored in a non-volatile memory so that the accounting information is not lost even when the power of the printer is turned off.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, in the present invention, accounting is performed by the printer itself, so that the burden on the host is reduced, and accounting can be performed for each host, which is accurate. Moreover, by storing the accounting information in the nonvolatile memory, there is the convenience that it is not necessary to reset the printer when the power is turned off and turned on again for some reason.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining accounting of a printer, and FIG.
5 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a printer, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a printer controller unit in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is connected to a network in which the present invention is implemented. FIG. 2 illustrates a host computer and a printer. 1 ... printer, 2 ... printer controller, 3 ...
... print engine, 4 ... network cable,
5A, 5B, 5C, 5N ... host computer, 20 ... control unit (CPU), 21 ... ROM, 22 ... RAM, 23 ... other devices.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a printer connected to a plurality of computers via a network, an account corresponding to each computer in the plurality of computers is set by a command from the computer or a setting from an operation panel provided in the printer. It is possible to register,
A printer comprising: a control unit that performs accounting each time an image is formed based on data from a computer corresponding to the registered account, and stores a result of the accounting in a storage unit as accounting information.